December 2023

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Taunton Town have confirmed the visit from Yeovil Town will be played on Tuesday 9th January with a 7.45pm kick-off.

The New Year’s Eve fixture at Wordsworth Drive, which was due to be played in front of a sell-out crowd, was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch in the county town.

The Peacocks have said the new date is “subject to league approval” – and presumably the state of their pitch – all tickets to will be valid for the rearranged date.

They have asked any supporters looking to get a refund on their ticket to contact their ticket provider at: support@fanbaseclub.com

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town’s New Year’s Eve game against Taunton Town has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Wordsworth Drive has been deemed unplayable with almost constant rain in Somerset over the past 24 hours and the ongoing issues with the pitch in the county town.

Regarding tickets… Taunton don’t say anything specific, but you’d imagine that all tickets purchased will be valid for the replayed fixture, or you can contact the club for a refund. 

If you’ve already bought streams from National League TV, well, their FAQs don’t offer you much hope.

Postponed Matches

If a match is postponed without sufficient notice of cancellation (two hours of the scheduled kick-off time), customers who have indicated they are a supporter of an affected team will receive a voucher code for a free future Match Pass.

If a match is postponed with sufficient notice of cancellation (two hours or more before the scheduled kick-off time), customers will not be entitled to a refund or voucher.

I’d still be sending an email to nationalleaguelive@streamamg.com and asking for, at least, a voucher for an upcoming game.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Podcasts

It’s the last pod of 2023, and we end the year on a happy note talking about the Boxing Day demolition of Taunton Town. Thank you for all the support this year!

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

We’d love to welcome some local businesses into the Gloverscast family through advertising. If you’re a business that would like to speak to a dedicated audience of more than 1000 monthly listeners, please get in touch. Find out more about advertising with us here.

If you have an idea for the website, want to contribute or just want to send us a message, feel free to email ian@gloverscast.co.uk.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

How we feeling today then, Glovers fans?! Another record attendance in the bag, our biggest league win of the season, and a double digit lead at the top of the table… following our 4-1 win against Taunton yesterday, let’s see what all our opponents got up to on a historic Boxing Day schedule!

We begin in Berkshire, where our closest rivals Hampton & Richmond travelled to Slough Town in one of three early kickoffs. This encounter proved to be the best for the neutral, where the hosts found themselves in a surprising position, taking a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. The visitors hit back with 3 second half goals to seemingly take all 3 points, until a 98th minute equaliser from Slavi Spasov meant both sides left Arbour Park with a point each. In the other early kick-off’s, Tonbridge Angels scored a 94th minute equaliser at home to Maidstone to continue their good league form, and Dartford left Welling United as 1-0 winners.

The first game we’ll look at from the 3pm kick-offs took place in North Somerset, where Weston-super-mare fell to W*ymouth in a 3-2 thriller, the visitors registering their first win in six. There were two big 3-0 wins for playoff contenders yesterday, with Chelmsford City winning away at Braintree Town in a 15 minute raid in the second half, and Worthing hosting Eastbourne Borough, pulling off a similar 15 minute heist across the two halves of play.

There were three 2-1 wins, the first coming for Bath City where they defeated Chippenham Town, Hemel Hempstead came from a goal down against 10 man St Albans City (Shaun Jeffers was the departee for St Albans), and for the first time in 22 games, Dover Athletic have won a game, coming from behind as they hosted Aveley.

A big surprise came at Plainmoor, where Truro City nabbed a 1-0 win over playoff contenders Torquay United, and in the final game of the day, Farnborough moved to within 2 points of the playoffs with a 1-0 win away to Havant & Waterlooville.

 

National League South results – in full

Slough Town 3-3 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Tonbridge Angels 1-1 Maidstone United
Welling United 0-1 Dartford
Braintree Town 0-3 Chelmsford City
Chippenham Town 1-2 Bath City
Dover Athletic 2-1 Aveley
Havant & Waterlooville 0-1 Farnborough
St Albans City 1-2 Hemel Hempstead Town
Torquay United 0-1 Truro City
Weston-super-mare 2-3 W*ymouth
Worthing 3-0 Eastbourne Borough

National League tables!

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Another match day has come and gone and another YTFC player makes the official Vanarama team of the week.

This time it’s the turn of Michael Smith, who assisted Frank Nouble for the opener and scored one of his own in a 4-1 rout of Taunton on Boxing Day.

Lovely stuff.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Another busy Boxing Day of football up and down the land, here’s how the Glovers out on loan got on – there was plenty happening. 

Firstly at Barnet, and we have to report a change to our previous edition, we said that JM-D had scored on his Barnet debut, which, is what the Bees had originally said, however, it does appear to have been given as a Billy Sass Davies Own Goal. Sorry, Jordan.

On Boxing Day, Jordan Maguire-Drew was an unused sub in a 2-0 win over Southend.

Will Buse was in goal for Bath, who left it late, but secured a 2-1 win over Chippenham. 

Into the lower leagues now, and Benjani Jr was substituted after just 20 minutes of Melksham’s win over Frome, a game which appears to have had FIVE red cards.

Hopefully it wasn’t an injury that will keep the striker out for long.

Ollie Haste put in 90 minutes for Dorchester in their 2-1 defeat to Poole, another game packed full of incident, a late opportunity for an equaliser for the Magpies was squandered when the hosts missed an injury time penalty.

Much better drama at Shepton Mallet, who picked up an 88th minute winner in their local derby against Street.

Charlie Bateson was brought on in the second half and set up the all important winner.

Gillingham v Wincanton was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, as was Welton Rovers v Odd Down, Sherborne didn’t have a game and of course, no Malachi Linton in this round up as the terms of his loan from Yeovil to Taunton meant he couldn’t play in the Boxing Day clash at Huish Park.

 

By:
On:
In: Five Conclusions, Gloversblog, Latest Yeovil Town News

It was a Boxing Day Bonanza at Huish Park, as Mark Cooper’s Glovers put four past Taunton in front of a record-breaking crowd. Here are Ian’s Conclusions from a packed Huish Park…

It was a day when everything clicked. From the outset, Yeovil were dominant yesterday. The Glovers controlled the ball brilliantly, the attacking play was free-flowing and, in the first half in particular, it felt like every attack could have been a goal. Defensively we were strong and controlled and it was the type of performance which clearly showed the gulf between the two teams. The early change saw Rhys Murphy come on much sooner than expected and his impact was devastating as the front four caused chaos for the Peacocks defence.

Jake Wannell gets a DDT from Nat Jarvis. ? Gary Brown

There were big performances across the pitch, in each department. Jake Wannell was in a wrestling match for the first half and was extremely impressive in not taking any bait against his former side. I thought Charlie Cooper had a great game in midfield, picking passes, making the play tick over and breaking things up. Alex Whittle, back in the side from injury, picked up where he left off. Morgan Williams, as reliable as they come. Frank Nouble was absolutely purring up front. His goal was well taken in a free-flowing move, but his assist for Michael Smith was something else. As was the performance from the right back…

Michael Smith. What else can be said about the man? He finally scored his goal, in front of the Thatchers Stand and his adoring congregation. He was relentless on the right hand side with pacey running, great deliveries into the box and was an overlapping outlet all afternoon. As I said in conclusion one, it all clicked. His partnership with Jordan Young on the right is a joy to watch on days like yesterday. This team is a result of some brilliant recruitment from Mark Cooper, but the decisions to bring in Joe Day and Smith have been game-changers for this squad.  

Michael Smith plays the ball vs Taunton
? Gary Brown

It was great to see another record-breaking crowd at Huish Park. There was anticipation in the air upon arrival to Huish Park yesterday. The Ciderspace was packed, the Chairman was behind the bar and it was all hands on deck. A club that was on life-support this time last year, is absolutely thriving, with a wave of good-will and optimism behind it. With a performance like that, in front of a crowd of 6301, some casuals will have turned into die-hard Glovers! A great afternoon on and off the pitch for a club that is unrecognisable from 12 months ago.

6301 People in Huish Park, another NLS record. ? Gary Brown

Ten Points Clear. Results below Yeovil all went the right way and the gap – which was already big – has got even bigger. We’ve had the blip and come out of it on the other side looking strong and head into the new year with momentum again. We can go to Taunton with confidence, welcome Bath for another West Country derby and make another statement. You can’t help but look at the fixtures and feel confident. And now you’re gonna believe us…

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Michael Smith has said that the whole squad are delighted with the result and the performance as Yeovil Town beat Taunton 4-1 in the first of two back to back games over the festive period.

Speaking to Tom Seymour post match, he said that he and Frank Nouble had a great relationship and that setting a goal up for one another was a great feeling.

“It’s a great feeling on a good day, it’s nice, I don’t remember much about it, it was a good bit of play, Frank got in down the wing and back heeled it and then tucked it away with my left foot, which is surprising, nice on a good day and a good win on Boxing Day, it was a lovely feeling.

We (Nouble and Smith) paid each other one today which is nice, it was a great team performance today, everyone, even the subs that came on, it was brilliant, we’re delighted in the changing room.”

Michael Smith celebrates his goal.
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

On the performance as a whole, the Northern Ireland international praised the whole squad for their work ethic in putting in a demolition job on the Peacocks.

“Very pleasing, Boxing Day games can be a little bit tricky, after Christmas, sometimes teams slip up, but it was a very professional job today by us, as I say, we’re delighted, every single one of us put a great shift in, and we deserved the win.”

The game also saw Yeovil break their own National League South Attendance record with over 6300 fans inside Huish Park, something Smith wants to see more of.

“It’s great, it’s twice this season now, it’s fantastic, we want more of it, we want to keep playing football, winning games and hopefully attract in more and more fans, it’s great to see, as you know it gives the lads a great boost, it was good to go out there and put on a show for them today.

We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, I know there’s a little bit of a gap at the top, but we’re just going to keep taking it game by game and trying to win every game obviously, we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves and say ‘we’re going to get this many points, that many points’, it doesn’t work like that, we’re a down to earth team and we just need to keep working hard and get those points on the board.”

Focus turns to the return game, at Taunton on New Years’ Eve, a game which is just the next on the road towards promotion for Smith, he’s pleased that the team got an enjoyable Christmas Day with their families and a brilliant Boxing Day win to top it off.

“We had Christmas Day off, which was great from the gaffer, I’ve been in a few Christmas Days, everyone is professional here, we did a little bit ourselves and kept ourselves right and you saw from the performance today, it’s the type of group and the bunch we are, we’re close knit and we’ll do a lot of stuff for each other, it was nice to get the rewards for that.”

Happy Christmas!

You can listen to the silky Northern Irish Tones of Michael Smith in conversation with Tom Seymour below.

 

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Mark Cooper described his Yeovil Town team as “scintillating” as they swept aside Somerset rivals Taunton Town with a 4-1 win in front of another National League South record crowd at Huish Park today.

Goals from Frank Nouble, Michael Smith, Rhys Murphy and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton sealed the win which took the Glovers ten points clear at the top of the table in front of 6,301 supporters.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Tom Seymour after the match, Cooper said: “The players were magnificent, the crowd was behind the goal was magnificent, some of the football we played was magnificent, the tempo we played at, I just thought it was a great day.

“We should have been four or five up at half-time, but credit to Taunton, they are a big, physical team and they played their part today. They are difficult to score against at times. First half, we were scintillating at times, and the way we play with the control we have makes it difficult for the opposition to get too close to us.

“We need to be getting goals from all over the pitch. We have a real distinct way of playing and certain players have to do a certain job. The two centre backs, the two central midfield players have to play together as a box and they don’t move too far from that and their job is to defend and keep the ball, and the rest of the team is there to create, cross, score. They all know their roles at the minute.”

Frank Nouble celebrates scoring his 15th minute opener at Huish Park.
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Asked about the goal his side conceded when Taunton defender Austen Booth headed home after 75 minutes, Cooper added: “Sometimes when you make changes, the boys that come on do not defend properly at set pieces and that was the situation there. One of the subs coming on did not mark his man and they get a cheap goal. But the way we controlled the second half today was outstanding.”

The game was played in front of a league record crowd – which was 12 greater than the previous attendance set when W*ymouth came to Huish Park in October – and the manager said he believed the crowd had an important role left to play this season.

With Hampton & Richmond, Maidstone United and Torquay United all dropping points on Boxing Day, Yeovil’s win moved then ten points clear at the top of the table.

Cooper said: “It is very pleasing, but there is 22 games left so the players have to keep going. It is not enough, we want more. We want more days like that with the atmosphere like a Football League stadium and fanbase, we want them to come and watch us play like that every week.

“Maybe it’s no coincidence that we play on the front foot when the fans are like that. They have a massive part to play, if they are negative it can drain the performance, but if they are upbeat it will usually lift the players and I thought they sucked the ball in that goal in the first half. It is just another great day for the club from where we were last year to where we are now is just chalk and cheese. We have good people in good places and if we get the trust from the fans to carry on, I am sure we will.”

Mark Cooper.
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Cooper confirmed that winger Will Dawes limped off after six minutes after picking up a dead leg in an early challenge which would presumably put him in doubt for the return fixture at Wordsworth Drive on New Year’s Eve.

The boss said he was expecting a reaction from the Peacocks. He said: “”We just have to do what we do and if we play like we play we will be difficult to play against. I am sure Taunton will regroup and they won’t want that to happen on their own pitch. They will be really physical and try and make it difficult, as we would expect.”

One interesting comment from Taunton boss Rob Dray surrounded attacking midfielder Dylan Morgan who was surprisingly left out of the visitors’ squad.

He told BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins that he had been approached by “a very local full-time club“, saying: “There has been an enquiry from a local full-time club for him which I was dealing with yesterday. His frame of mind was therefore not correct for him to be playing today. Anything else is got to be asked of the club, the people who are at a higher pay grade than I am.”

Now obviously Yeovil are not the only full-time which could be described as local to Taunton……but they are the most local one. Watch this space…..

As is often the way this season, Mark Cooper also spoke with the club’s official YouTube channel following the win and here is what he said there…..

 

 

 

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Pictures courtesy of Gary Brown. Please ask for permission before using.